Approval Requirement Modes

When a Review Matrix rule assigns multiple reviewers to a step, the approval requirement mode determines how many of those reviewers must act before the step is considered complete.

The three modes

All must approve

The review step closes only when every assigned reviewer has acted. A single rejection from any reviewer triggers the template's rejection handling (continue, stop workflow, or return to previous step).

When to use:

• All listed reviewers hold authority required for formal sign-off
• Regulatory or contractual requirement that every named party approves
• Multi-discipline coordination where every discipline lead must agree

Trade-off: One unavailable reviewer blocks the entire step. Ensure all listed reviewers are regularly available or plan for delegation.

Example: A construction drawing for Zone A is reviewed by the Structural Lead, MEP Lead, and Architectural Lead — all three must approve before the drawing can be issued.

Any one

The review step closes as soon as any one of the assigned reviewers acts. The first reviewer to act determines the step outcome.

When to use:

• Multiple reviewers have equivalent authority and any one is sufficient
• You want the fastest possible cycle — whoever is available acts first
• Backup reviewers are listed so there's always someone available to approve

Trade-off: May result in less scrutiny than all-must-approve. Ensure all listed reviewers have the required expertise — the fastest responder determines the outcome.

Example: An RFI response can be approved by any one of three available project engineers — whoever is available responds first.

Majority

The review step closes when more than half of the assigned reviewers have acted. For an even number of reviewers, the step requires (n/2) + 1 approvals (e.g. 3 out of 4 reviewers).

When to use:

• Committee or panel reviews where consensus is required but unanimity isn't practical
• Distributed review panels where some members may be unavailable
• Democratic decision processes (e.g. design review panels)

Trade-off: More complex to reason about — members need to understand they are part of a majority vote and their individual action may not be the deciding factor.

Example: A design review panel of 5 engineers must review a specification — the step completes when 3 of the 5 have acted.

Rejection and majority mode

In majority mode, if a reviewer rejects:

• The rejection is recorded in the workflow timeline
• The step continues until the majority threshold is reached
• If the final majority included rejections, the outcome is determined by the step's rejection threshold configuration and the template's outcome determination mode

Comparing the three modes

Mode	Closes when	Best for	Slowest if
All must approve	Every reviewer acts	High-stakes, multi-authority	Any one reviewer is unavailable
Any one	First reviewer acts	Fast turnaround, equivalent authority	N/A — fastest mode
Majority	Over half act	Panel reviews, consensus	More than half are unavailable

Mode selection in rule configuration

Set the approval requirement mode when creating or editing a Review Matrix rule, in the Approval requirement field. You can set different modes for different rules — for example, use All must approve for structural drawings but Any one for general correspondence.

What's next

• Creating Rules — how to build and configure Review Matrix rules
• Conflict Resolution — what happens when multiple rules assign different modes
• Testing Your Matrix — verify your matrix configuration works as expected